I'm a Junior at Northwestern GPA of 3.0. Transferred to NW from Trinity U. in San Antonio (resident) where I had a 3.9. So my Overall GPA is about 3.3, and I should get about a 170 on the LSAT. As of now I really don't have any big extracurriculars or good relationships with professors; something I should work on. My dad also attended UT, don't know if that helps. non-URM I should add.

I'm planning on taking an LSAT prep course this summer, and then taking the October LSAT and applying to UT and only UT for regular decision 2006, for fall 2007. Think I have a decent chance? Any suggestions or tips would be highly apprectiated. Hadn't planned on attending lawschool until recently; believe it will be a good career path though.

I think you need to stop using boldface.

And you have no shot, because you haven't taken the LSAT. You can say what you should score all day and night; that doesn't mean it's going to happen. Your father, being a UT alumnus, will do nothing for you.

When you actually have a tangible LSAT score, then you can have someone gauge your chances; but even then, it doesn't matter. All that matters is what the adcomm thinks of your total package, within the "acceptable" range of numbers, of course. Oh, and applying to one law school is quite foolish if you have any real intentions of attending law school and becoming an attorney; even people with the "right" combination of numbers get rejected. There are no guarantees in admissions.

If you'd like to see what kind of numbers are getting in @ UT, check out Lawschoolnumbers.

I'm a Junior at Northwestern GPA of 3.0. Transferred to NW from Trinity U. in San Antonio (resident) where I had a 3.9. So my Overall GPA is about 3.3, and I should get about a 170 on the LSAT. As of now I really don't have any big extracurriculars or good relationships with professors; something I should work on. My dad also attended UT, don't know if that helps. non-URM I should add.

I'm planning on taking an LSAT prep course this summer, and then taking the October LSAT and applying to UT and only UT for regular decision 2006, for fall 2007. Think I have a decent chance? Any suggestions or tips would be highly apprectiated. Hadn't planned on attending lawschool until recently; believe it will be a good career path though.

I think you need to stop using boldface.

And you have no shot, because you haven't taken the LSAT. You can say what you should score all day and night; that doesn't mean it's going to happen. Your father, being a UT alumnus, will do nothing for you.

When you actually have a tangible LSAT score, then you can have someone gauge your chances; but even then, it doesn't matter. All that matters is what the adcomm thinks of your total package, within the "acceptable" range of numbers, of course. Oh, and applying to one law school is quite foolish if you have any real intentions of attending law school and becoming an attorney; even people with the "right" combination of numbers get rejected. There are no guarantees in admissions.

If you'd like to see what kind of numbers are getting in @ UT, check out Lawschoolnumbers.

Hi, thanks for the reply. I'm moving to Austin regardless of whether or not I get into UT; so in my case I don't think it's a bad idea to apply to one school -- not interested in living anywhere else.

Well, if you really want to be a lawyer, you can apply to SMU, Baylor, or another "local" law school...and just move back after you're done.

Well, you're GPA is trending negative, which isn't going to help your case. To echo the sentiments below, it is a bit presumptive to assume that you will get a 170 - remember, that's 98%, and you haven't even taken a practice test yet. SAT percentiles are not directly comparable (though I won't claim there isn't a general correlation).

Even at that, a 3.3/170 will make you borderline at UT (trust me on this) in state, and probably would be rejected for out of state.

You need to get that GPA up to a 3.4 and work on the LORs and ECs. Unless you get a 172+ you are not going to be a presumptive admit, I believe, and are going to need other factors to assist your app. Not having good LORs and a poor GPA is a real bad combo, in my opinion.

As for Austin, I certainly understand wanting to live here. However, if you are not going to focus on biglaw, then why not go to UH, SMU, Baylor or St Mary's and then practice in Austin afterwards. Kind of a strange strategy it seems.

Can I ask what makes you think you'll get a 170? I had no clue or expectations going into the LSAT even after a diagnostic test. I don't want to sound rude, but don't set yourself up for disappointment.

Secondly, maybe you should rethink why you want to be a lawyer. If it's really what you want to do, then you'd probably be a little more willing to look at other schools.

That said, I think IF you get the 170 your chances at UT are pretty good, but not definite at all. I got in w/ money w/ a 3.67/170 if that helps. I don't think the alum connection does anything for you. Work on your EC's. Volunteer at a LegalAid office or and Advocacy Center.

Logged

Oh, sweetheart, you don't need law school. Law school is for people who are boring and ugly and serious. And you, button, are none of those things.

UMHBmom

I've lived in Dallas and can't see myself there, maybe after lawschool I'll move there to live the yuppie dream, but It aint the best college town. Houston is too big and will remind me of Chicago too much. St Mary's is in San Antonio, which in turn, is in Mexico, and I refuse to go anywhere outside of Texas. UT or bust

Unless you walked in to the SAT and ACT and got insane scores on zero preperation, then there's nothing to predict an LSAT score with. If you had done that, then I would say you have a good shot to get that 170+ because you obviously have great test taking skills.

Everyone is asking "why UT and UT only?", my question is why law? You don't go to law school because "it will be a good career path." Well, yes you do, but you need to have some desire to study it. Like, a strong desire. If you really want to go to live in Austin and go to UT, why not apply to other grad or professional programs you're interested in as well?

You're GPA is puzzling. I don't know anything about Trinity, but it's not Northwestern. First of all, I think with the transfer, and it being you're first semester, you might be able to explain away the 2.0. How your GPA is looked, in my opinion at least, at will be largely based on what kind of addendum you write explaining the grade trend. You need to write something that says "I got lower grades because I went to a much stronger school" without saying "I'm using the transfer as an excuse for a negative grade trend."